MILITARY PSYCHOLOGIST

Author, Educator, and Military Mental Health Consultant

Providing consultative and educational services to the military community since 2003

Dr. Bret A. Moore is a board-certified clinical psychologist and prescribing psychologist in San Antonio, Texas and a member of the Boulder Crest Retreat Wellness Committee in Bluemont, Virginia. He is a former active duty Army psychologist and completed two tours (27 months) in Iraq as a Clinical Psychologist and held the positions of Chief of Clinical Operations and Officer in Charge of Preventative services while deployed. He is the author and editor of 14 books, including Treating PTSD in Military Personnel: A Clinical Handbook, Wheels Down: Adjusting to Life after Deployment, and Taking Control of Anxiety: Small Steps for Overcoming Worry, Stress, and Fear. He writes the column Kevlar for the Mind, which is published in Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps Times. He has also written feature articles for Scientific American Mind and The New Republic. Dr. Moore is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and recipient of the Arthur W. Melton Award for Early Career Achievement in Military Psychology from Division 19 and the Early Career Achievement Award in Public Service Psychology from Division 18 of APA. His views on clinical and military psychology have been quoted in USA Today, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe, and on CNN and Fox News. He has appeared on NPR, the BBC, and CBC.

Latest Books and Articles

The POsTTRAUMATIC GROWTH WORKBOOK

"We see the suffering and results of over fifteen years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan on a daily basis at Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness. We also see the amount of strength that exists in military families. If there is one community in our nation that can achieve posttraumatic growth, it is the combat veteran who was forged on the anvil of adversity, and the military family that endured the long and stressful deployments. This workbook is a must for our brothers and sisters who have witnessed the worse that humanity has to offer - war."

— Ken Falke, retired U.S. Navy Bomb Disposal specialist, philanthropist, and founder of the EOD Warrior Foundation and Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness

Dr. Bret Moore, a board-certified clinical psychologist, volunteers with Boulder Crest, helping the staff refine programs, which are not meant to replace traditional health care services but to act as a supplement for those who have not responded well to medication or psychotherapy.

Moore — who served as an active-duty psychologist in the Army from 2003 to 2008, during which he did a 14-month tour in Iraq — said he has seen Boulder Crest’s model work.

“It’s not one hour of therapy a week like you traditionally get in the health care system. It’s therapy throughout the day that is not only provided by trained professionals but also by their fellow service members,” he said. “Think about how military service works: It’s a band of their own, and that’s what’s unique about Boulder Crest. People are able to open up more and form bonds more as opposed to sitting in traditional therapy.”

“It’s one of the most important factors,” Moore added. “It’s one of those factors that the traditional health care system is trying to maximize and cash out on. Because of the way our traditional health care system is set up, it’s too costly.”

WHEELS DOWN

“The definitive reference for the defining challenge of courage. If you are a vet, love a vet, or work with vets, then this book is a must-read. If only this book had been available to the veterans coming home from Vietnam.”

—Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, author of On Killing and On Combat

THOSE WITH MULTIPLE TOURS OF WAR OVERSEAS STRUGGLE AT HOME

“The classic analyst takes in the information and then retreats into their head and wants to think about it, then maybe checks the environment again and thinks some more,” said Dr. Charles A. Morgan III, a psychiatrist at the University of New Haven who has worked extensively with Special Operations forces. The elite combat troops operate much differently, he said. “They immediately take in their surroundings; they have a high degree of external focus. But they’re able to switch internally, make a quick decision — then act and adjust as they go.”

In training and in combat, this intense awareness and decision making become much sharper. “Essentially the decision making and acting become second nature,” said Bret Moore, the deputy director of the Army’s Warrior Resiliency Program of the Regional Health Command-Central in San Antonio. “You do not want these guys thinking too much.”

TREATING PTSD IN MILITARY PERSONNEL

"While the treatment of PTSD in combat veterans is still evolving, this book provides an impressive review of the most thoroughly studied psychological treatments. Synthesizing two decades' worth of research, the volume offers clinicians valuable information."

BACK FROM THE BATTLEFIELDS, SOLDIERS FIND HEALING

"I've never seen anything like this," says clinical psychologist Bret Moore,who notes that it can take up to a year or longer to see progress from traditional psychotherapy, because it's typically administered one hour a week. "What they've done here in the past two days—about 14 hours of therapy—you don't get that anywhere else.

"It's frustrating to see how the media portrays our veterans as broken," Moore adds. "But that's not really the case. Most of our soldiers are very resilient and return to baseline on their own after months of being home." He explains that a minority of service members need the extra help to return to "baseline," which is why a place like Boulder Crest is so important.